Electrical Twilight

There are 2 things that really stick out in my mind when I think of the Alvord and those are it's marvelous and everchanging mudcracks and the incredibly massive Steens Mountain. On my first night of my 4 day trip I was rewarded for driving hours across the state with a beautiful and clear night sky which was unexpected as I had this trip planned for a year and weather in the PNW spring is very volatile. When I arrived at my spot and saw there was water on the ground I knew I had to try to get the arch of the milkyway reflected in the water surrounding the mudcracks. Off into the mud I strode until the textures appeared to change and reveal more of a reflection of the stars. I won't lie up and down were hard to distinguish once I got into the deeper end and it was slightly disorienting holding all my camera gear while trying to decipher what I was seeing. After recouping I leveled the tripod legs and ballhead and took 3 shots for each of the 20 panels of this panorama making it a total accumulation of 60 images. My favorite part of this image is the transition of mud cracks and their depth with the water. You can see the change in depth as you look left where the mud was slightly submerged and to the right you can see how they weren't yet completely covered. Hope you enjoy!